How rupucis2 doubled his bankroll target in a month
We talk to member, rupucis2, who recently became another Bankroll Challenge success story in a crazy week for PokerStrategists.
In a crazy week for Bankroll Challengers, rupucis2 became one of three finishers, more than doubling his targeted €1,000, instead posting a balance of €2,514 scooped in only the fourth week of his challenge.
Almost all of his target was met following a €2,225 scoop courtesy of a 5th place finish in William Hills’ Kart Series #24 50k Gtd, allowing our man to complete his challenge in super quick time.
Here he tells us all about the secrets of his success.
Firstly, congratulations on successfully completing your challenge in record time, how did you feel when the tournament ended?
rupucis2: Thanks! That’s a pretty tough first question as I don't know really how to describe the feeling. At first I felt sad because I had just lost a decisive hand with KT vs T5 and I was out of tournament, which would have been my first title. Then, after some quick analysis and reassuring myself that I had made the correct decision, I realised that I just had set a new personal record for myself and immediately I started to feel much better.
Is this not a bit above your BRM? How did you even come to be playing and what is the highest buy-in you ever played?
rupucis2: Yes, that buy-in level is outside my BRM and I wouldn't usually buy-in for that amount of cash if I had to do it directly. However, I played some satellites during the week and that's how I qualified. I managed to get 2x €20 tickets, one through a €3 turbo satellite and the other from a €1 freezout MTT.
My highest online buy-in was in the Sunday Million, where I qualified through satellites twice, but I would still have to divide the buy-in by two, because I sold some action to my friend. My live record was €100, again through a satellite, this time costing €10.
"In my opinion, the most important thing is to question your decisions, analyse your mistakes and improve on them."
What is your highest win up to date?
rupucis2: This was my highest win online, €2,226, but before that I won $1,241 in 2015. As for live, it’s €500 but I don’t remember the year, maybe 2007?
When it comes to tournaments, it takes a lot of patience. What do you think was your EV for finishing the challenge so fast?
rupucis2: I never thought I would finish the challenge so fast. I think this can happen to any MTT player, you are on a long downswing and then suddenly you sky rocket, which is exactly happened to me in week four of the challenge. One more thing that I have started to do recently is play less tables. Now I don't open more than six tables at once, when before I was normally playing 10-16. This allows me to stay far more focused, patient and make better decisions. Another thing I try to avoid is big field tournaments.
As an MTT player, what main qualities do you possess that helped you achieve your goal?
rupucis2: In my opinion, the most important thing is to question your decisions, analyse your mistakes and improve on them. This is not only true for MTT players, but for other players as well. In fact, this should be applicable to other aspects of life as well, not just poker. If we are only talking about MTT players, then yes, probably patience is one of the main qualities, because no MTT player can be good long term without patience.
Now, we want you to share a bit of your wisdom. What typical mistakes do you still see being made in MTTs in 2017 and how do you exploit them?
rupucis2: Well, it depends on what type of players and situations we are talking about. Mistakes are everywhere, we just need to spot them and use them to our advantage. Stats and notes come in very handy. I think mistakes shouldn't differ that much from the game’s limits, but I never played higher than medium so I can't really tell you what happens up there but, from what I have seen on streams, it's the same.
Now to the sweet spot, is your girlfriend is going to spend it all or do you have any hobbies that are supported by poker?
rupucis2: Currently I am single, so some of the prize money will be spent on my hobbies like fishing, forestry, sports and partying with friends. Half of the prize will remain in poker, one part will boost my William Hill bankroll, the other part will be deposited with 888poker. The rest of the money will be used on various items like new sports clothes, tools, topping up my savings account, partying and a fine bottle of cognac that will hopefully stay unopened until the next significant win.
"Patience is one of the main qualities of a poker player because no MTT player can be good long term without patience"
Now, one last poker question; how did you become so good in MTTs and how do you get better? Do you have any idols or coaches in mind?
rupucis2: I don't consider myself a very good MTT player. I can think of many things that I still need to learn and implement before I would consider myself that, although I am slowly working towards it. However, it needs to be mentioned that poker is a hobby of mine and I play for fun so the development for me as a poker player is at a much slower pace than most of the other MTT players out there. I started with cash games, then switched to STT SNGs and now I play both, MTT SNGs and MTTs.
I started to learn about poker from books and from my two idols, Collin Moshman and Dan Harrington. I also picked up a lot of knowledge from PokerStrategy articles. Now I sometimes watch Aarnimetsa and Ghaleons’ MTT SNG content, Gripsed and Doug Polk MTT content, as well some streams from Jamie Staples. I have had only 2 coaches, TimReisner and DonBartos, but it was a long time ago and only for short periods, but I have nothing but good feedback about them.
What will be the next biggest goal for you, who is the end boss in poker for you?
rupucis2: Seeing as I would like to improve my HU play in future, for both HU SNGs and FT, then my end boss in poker would be Collin Moshman in a HU match for a rollz session.
Thank you for being with us and good luck at the tables!
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